The start of a new year can be exciting for some.. and overwhelming for others (*puts up hand because she’s stressin’*) I love the new year since it’s a reason to reflect on the past 365 days but it can be a bit anxiety driven trying to figure out how to improve for the coming year. I’m that person who has developed resolutions and stops sticking to it before the end of January. So I get it. Even as I write this, my mind is consumed in keen ideas, self doubt and wondering how the hell I’m going to do it all or even where to start.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are something many of us dietitians recommend to our clients – goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

For my clients, the trickier parts of S.M.A.R.T. goals are making them specific and time bound – I often hear huge, broad goals from individuals I work with but it’s the smaller goals that we develop that help work towards those overarching ideals that are the most important part! So, what’s this dietitian’s 2019 intentions for the year?

• Getting in more movement.
  • If you follow me on IG, you’ll notice I talk about my body pains a lot (hips, back, knees.. it all hurts often). Going to the gym, getting the endorphins flowing, heart pumping and destressing is what helps. My aim is for 2-3 days per week for 45-60 minutes.
• Building my private practice by niching down.
  • I’ve decide to follow my passion for gut health, surgical nutrition and healthy eating by making that my focus for social media and blog posts! This is something that makes me nervous since I’m hoping all of you find it as interesting as I do but I feel it’s an area I love working in, learning about and individuals I love working with. This will also include spending 1 hour each night after work on my private practice (not including the time I spend seeing you all one-on-one). Making the time to do tasks is the only way I’ll be sure to get some of this fun work done!
• Continuing to eat more plants.
  • Bae and I try our best to eat plant based when we can. Almost all our meals from home are lacto-ovo vegetarian (we rarely purchase meat for our protein source) but we do consume animal proteins when eating out or at social events. I’m getting Papa Hussain more into plant based proteins (exciting!) and I love eating at vegan/vegetarian restaurants. But I’ll be trying to choose vegetarian meals more often when eating out starting this year. My reason? Plant proteins are great for our bodies, digestive tracts and puts less of a burden on our environment.. plus they taste DELISH!

For me, these 3 goals are pretty big so that’s what I’ll be sticking to. It’ll be an exciting year for me and hope you’ll enjoy witnessing this journey.

What are your goals for 2019? Is nutrition one of them? Let me know below! If you are interested on working on your nutrition goals, feel free to get in touch!